Rope Bridge: Difference between revisions

It's interesting in the field of [[Bamboo Technology]] that they can build [[Durable Deathtrap|elaborate death traps that work for a thousand years]], but can't build a rope bridge that will last for ten. Who knows, maybe it's the water or the sea air.

 

 

{{examples}}

* The first ''[[Pokémon]]'' example occurred in the episode, "Bulbasaur and the Hidden Village", the protagonists attempt to cross a rope bridge, but the wind rips the bridge apart. Brock loses his grip and falls into the river while Ash manage to keep his grip and pulls himself to safety with Misty and Pikachu clinging on him.

** Later episodes feature rope bridges and none or very few of them end without the bridge being destroyed.

* Variant in [[Rurouni Kenshin]]: Kenshin purposely destroys the ''wooden'' bridge he and Misao are trapped on in order to avoid a fight and make the quickest getaway.

* ''[[Inuyasha]]'': Jaken and Rin are confronted by a villain in the middle of a rope bridge. In a subversion, the bridge breaks because Jaken's attempt to defend himself and Rin relies on fire which burns the ropes and breaks the bridge causing all three of them to plunge into the gorge below.

== [[Film]] ==

* Subverted in ''[[Shrek]]''. It does collapse, but only after being set ''on fire'' by a dragon (never mind that it was [[Convection, Schmonvection|suspended over a lava pit]]). Previously it held up just fine despite a several-hundred pound ogre rocking back and forth on it to prove a point.

* ''[[Romancing the Stone]]''

** Though that was really a trestle bridge. It was a hazard anyway.

* The Amazing Panda Adventure

* Averted in ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]: Dead Man's Chest,'' where the rope bridge does not sway dangerously, snap, or get cut. It's just a bridge.

* In the film version of ''[[Horton Hears a Who]]'', Horton has to cross a bridge to Mt. Nool with the entire Who planet dangling on a speck of dust on his trunk!

{{quote| "Don't panic... Whoever built this bridge obviously took into account that elephants will be crossing it."}}

* [[Lampshaded]] in ''[[The Librarian]]''. {{spoiler|While crossing a large wooden bridge, he expresses surprise that it would hold the weight, and bounces on the board. He falls through, and is rescued. Cue the bridge collapsing.}}

* In the climax of ''[[The King and I]]'' animated movie.

* ''[[Monty Python and The Holy Grail]]'': The Bridge of Death. Although old and rickety it's perfectly functional.

* ''[[Pandorum]]'' has a sci-fi take on this trope, with the old and damaged platform leading to the reactor. But instead of a ''[[Star Wars]]''-type abyss the platform passes low over a horde of sleeping carnivorous mutants.

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* Subverted but [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] in ''[[Narnia|The Silver Chair]]''. Eustace, Jill, and Puddleglum come to a giant stone bridge spanning a canyon. Puddleglum, who [[The Eeyore|sees a down side to everything]], is reluctant to take it, theorizing it's just too convenient and will probably vanish into thin air or something when they're halfway across.

* ''[[His Dark Materials|Northern Lights]]''

* One of the first signs that something's up in ''[[Matthew Reilly|Temple]]'' is the existing, already cut rope bridge. Several characters note that it's new, but Incan rope bridges rarely lasted more than three years. Not only is there a native tribe in the area, but they want to keep ''something'' on the tower of rock the temple is on.

* In [[Tamora Pierce]]'s ''The Realms of the Gods'', Daine and Numair are attacked while crossing a rickety rope bridge (says Daine: "It could be worse. It could be raining!"), although it doesn't actually collapse.

* There ''used'' to a rope bridge spanning the great gorge in the ''[[Redwall]]'' series, but [[Big Bad|Slagar the Cruel]] burns it once he's finished crossing. The heroes then cross the gorge with a makeshift zipline, and later in the series a gigantic tree trunk is used as the bridge.

* ''[[Ketrin]]'': The entire (non-erotic) second half of [http://www.p-synd.com/ketrin/ketrin7.htm Part Seven] involves Ketrin's friend Sherinel having to cross a bridge with four lupinoid companions to get to the side of the river where he thinks Ketrin is. Subverted to the extent that it's not a rope bridge but a huge decaying wooden structure, but that just means that a) it takes a lot longer to get across, and b) it's slowly falling to bits while they're crossing it. And yes, it's hundreds of feet above a raging river.

 

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

** It is possible that Hurley strained the bridge enough to weaken it so that it could break when Charlie tried to cross it.

* In ''[[Doctor Who]]'', a [[Rope Bridge]] showed up in the serial "The Keys of Marinus" in the ''very first season'' and was used to trap the protagonists on the wrong side of a chasm inside a spacious ice-cave. They put it back together with the help of stalactites (or were they stalagmites?) even though they [[Special Effects Failure|clearly could have just jumped over the chasm]].

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

** Which, unlike most examples of the trope, it actually stood up despite missing large gaps... {{spoiler|until it was struck by lightning and caught on fire, which is when Phoenix actually tried to cross it.}}

* ''Original Adventure'' (''Colossal Caves Adventure'') from the 1970s has you crossing a bridge where there is an angry bear on the other side which is guarding a valuable chain. You calm the bear down {{spoiler|by feeding it}}, and then you have to make sure the bear isn't following you, because if you and the bear cross the bridge, it will collapse and you're killed.

* There's a rope bridge near the start of ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 3''. Surprisingly, it remains intact. {{spoiler|but a traitor does throw Snake off it.}}

** It's also possible to cut the rope bridge yourself. Here's a hint: don't cut the rope bridge yourself, or wait until you're off the bridge and shoot the ropes. Makes a good ambush tactic because when the bridge falls or wobbles it'll send the enemies on it flying to their deaths.

* Used for dramatic effect in ''[[X-Men]] Origins: Wolverine'', in the very-first level. The bridge is pretty rickety in the first place, missing a long line of boards in the middle, and after you jump across there (killing half a dozen mooks in the process), other enemies cut the ropes behind you... of course, Wolverine is far too awesome to just fall down, so instead, he sticks his claws into the planks, and crawls up the bridge as it hangs vertical along the cliffside... killing half a dozen mooks along the way.

* [http://blockland.us Blockland]: This is true of virtually every rope bridge. Ever. It actually got to the point where a rope bridge was built and advertised simply because it ''didn't'' collapse.

* ''[[Donkey Kong Country]]'' and its successors get lots of mileage out of this trope (although the bridges are usually sturdy).

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* Mercilessly parodied -- and ultimately subverted -- in ''[[South Park]]'', in which Chef is killed by falling off a collapsing rope bridge, into a chasm, where he is impaled on jagged rocks. He is then attacked and pulled apart by pumas and grizzly bears. After all that, he is revived (and turned into Darth Vader) by the "Super Adventurers Club."

** In the episode "The Boy Who Knew Too Much," Bart crosses then tears down a rope bridge while playing hookie, in a futile attempt to evade Principal Skinner.

** Played around in "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo" when the Simpsons went on a Japanese game show to win plane tickets back to Springfield. After humiliating and painful tasks, they family must grab the tickets off a rope bridge suspended over a volcano. The bridge snapped and the family fell into the lava, which turns out to be orange juice loaded with wasabi.

* On ''[[Beavis and Butthead]]'', an angel comes to Butthead on a stormy night and tries to kill him by goading him into walking over one of these. In an inversion of the [[Stock Parody]] of "It's a Wonderful Life." he shows Butthead how much better the world would be without him, which bores Butthead so much he ignores the bridge and goes home.

* ''[[Jonny Quest]]'' TOS episode "The Devil's Tower". While making their escape from the title place, our heroes have to cross a rope bridge while an insane World War I German war criminal is throwing grenades at them from a biplane. One of the grenades hits the bridge and breaks it while Dr. Quest is crossing it, requiring him to be pulled to safety.

* [[The Flintstones|Fred Flintstone]] RUNS across one of these - carrying his car - scaring his costars half to death in the process. (They were in the car.)

* An episode of ''[[Gummi Bears]]'' centered around replacing an old rope bridge. The replacement is ''too'' durable, and leaves the Gummis open to an invasion.

* The ''[[Duckman]]'' episode "Short Plush and Deadly" manages to feature one of these ''and'' an [[Inevitable Waterfall]]

* ''[[My Little Pony]]'': Shows up in the pilot. Part of the first route the focal ponies and their human ally Megan attempt to take to Midnight Castle involves a rope bridge that collapses with Megan and Applejack on it, dropping them into the river mouth below. They are rescued (and treated to a [[Busby Berkeley Number]]) by the Sea Ponies.

* ''[[George of the Jungle]]'': George has to cross one of these but Ape doesn't think it's sturdy enough to hold Shep<ref>George's pet elephant who he thinks is a dog</ref> - so George carries Shep over instead.